Protesting children passionately cry 'save our schools' as Cemex fights Hamble Quarry planning refusal

Cemex appealed Hampshire County Council’s decision to refuse the application to extract 250,000 tons of sand and gravel a year at Hamble Airfield, with Planning Inspectorate hearings underway.

On Tuesday, April 1, Hamble residents protested again in Winchester against the refused plan as the inquiry started.

The application, which gathered 5,744 objections, was refused because lorry traffic would have an “unacceptable” impact on local roads and because Cemex had not demonstrated that air pollution would not impact protected habitats and species.

Winchester High Street woke up full of passionate Hamble residents, from babies to secondary school students and elderly, who screamed, “No to the quarry, save our schools.”

Among them, Theo, 8, with his friends, took over the roads and asked cars to sound their horns to support their protest.

Theo said he lives in the Hamble village and doesn’t want a quarry impacting his life.

He said: “I live where the quarry is going to be, and I don’t want dust in my house.”

The public inquiry will run for the next four days, starting today, and resume in June for two more days.

At the inquiry, more than 30 people are set to speak, including early years, primary and school children, doctors, county and borough councillors, MPs and residents.

Cemex previously said it was “confident the site can be operated without any significant adverse effects”, though locals have repeatedly hit out over the plans having negative impacts on the health and wellbeing of the community, as well as causing traffic problems.

Here you can watch the inquiry.